A dejected Lewis Hamilton has revealed he 'won't miss' his 2022 Mercedes car as his struggles with it continued in qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix on Saturday. Hamilton was only able to finish seventh in qualifying, in what could well be an opportunity missed with Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc starting at the back of the grid for Sunday's race due to engine penalties.
Speaking to Sky Sports following his Saturday outing on the track, the seven-time world champion revealed he and his team were 'optimistic' heading to Spa this week but were left disappointed with the car's performance after being 1.8 seconds off the pace.
He said: "Everyone is working for improvements. We came here very optimistic we could be close, but to be 1.8 seconds behind is a real kick in the teeth.
"It's a car we continue to struggle with and definitely won't miss it at the end of the year. For me, it's just focusing on how we build and design next year's car. The teams ahead of us are in another league and our car looked so much different today. We've got a lot of work to do, and we'll do the best we can with what we have for the rest of the season."
It was not just Hamilton who was left frustated, as his teammate George Russell also once again hit out at the Mercedes car. Prior to the summer break Russell landed consecutive podium finishes following last month's Grand Prix, and now the English can not 'comprehend' the sheer difference in performance.
He commented: "I think I am not sure how you comprehend how you were on pole in the last race, and we are 1.8 seconds off today and not just from Max, but six tenths behind the Alpines. Always when the temperature is cold, we struggle. We saw it in Imola this year, we have seen it on many other Fridays when it has been a cooler Friday, we just can't seem to get the tyres working.
"It is pretty frustrating, but I am confident we will have some more pace tomorrow compared to the Alpines and the McLarens and the Williams as well - but we will still be about half a second to a second off Red Bull and Ferrari." Despite the lack of pace Russell is confident he and his teammate Hamilton can build on their P7 and P8 starts.
""We need to look overnight, understand it and try and be faster tomorrow," Russell added. "It is obviously not great, for sure. We know we are not the fastest car or the second fastest car but we definitely have a car that is capable of more than P8 and P7 so we have work to do."
